The Things I Hate About Her
by akaSky
Summary: Infuriating, crazy, insane, maniacal...she is the bane of my existence.


Disclaimer: I do not own _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ in any way, shape, or form. All rights are reserved to Mike, Bryan, and Nickelodeon.

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**A/N: Soooo…I've finally invaded the fandom of my obsession!! ATLA has been on my mind for quite a long time now and I CANNOT GET IT OUT. It's infuriating, but I LOVE it…just like my damned boyfriend, that manipulative bastard. **

**Anyways, this work is not meant to offend anyone (reader or writer), any community, or any ship. It is just an inspired story I decided to share on this site. Other than that, I hope you all enjoy my first ATLA fic!! Much love to everyone!**

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**The Things I Hate About Her**

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Hey, Zuko here. I guess you're all wondering why the title is the way it is, especially since I'm not one to hate others…well, you know, at least, after my transition from the bad side to the good side. _Anyways_, I'm getting off-track. I suppose you'd all like to know who "she" is…well, you'll find out soon enough. For starters…

She is crazy.

No…she is downright infuriating!! And so are the whole lot of you, believing in the insane idea that she and I belong together. Pfft! Preposterous. No. A couple like us would never last for even a wisp of time. It'd be a controversy our little group of friends, my whole kingdom, possibly even the world would argue over.

Don't get me wrong --- it's not like she's unattractive or anything. Actually, when I sit and think about it, she's kind, caring, admirable, beautiful, hot yet cold, sexy --- anyways, that is beside my point…again. As I was saying, the girl LIVES to torture me; she feeds off my pain. Girls are damn manipulative, I tell you, and their mind-games can drive any person to the brink of insanity. I warn all you fellow men out there: we are their top victims, so beware. I am a prime example, which is embarrassing and demoralizing --- me, Fire Lord Zuko, ruler of the Fire Nation, Fire Bending-master to the Avatar, heir of the gift of Agni and everything that's fire. Hn. How the mighty have fallen indeed. I loathe her. Damn her; damn Katara for this!!

Don't defend her, don't even think about it! I have just reason to hate her, and you would too if you had to endure…well, _her_. Anyways, for those of you who still don't understand, here is why…

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1) She is crazy: _I have already mentioned it before. Girls are crazy, but she is the absolute WORST (excluding Azula). She's always yelling at me, bullying me, blaming everything she can think of on me --- she's insane._

2) She is bossy: _Even when my hands are busy juggling the fate of my nation, she commands --- no --- __**demands**__ for me to "get off my behind and do something productive, otherwise, I'd 'lose my figure.'"_

3) She makes me her slave: _On more than one occasion, I have been water-whipped for not submitting to her fancies. Especially when I don't agree with her._

4) She makes me her hairdresser: _I am the Fire Lord for crying out loud!! I don't have time to be braiding her long, silky, luxurious hair! No matter how good it smells._

5) She makes me her bag-carrier: _I will never go shopping with her and Ty Lee again. EVER again._

6) She makes me her brother's baby-sitter: _Besides Azula, Sokka is probably the only other exception of being crazier than Katara._

7) She makes me eat the weirdest things: _I am the Fire Lord…my elders and servants never could make me eat my vegetables, so why do I _**have**_ to eat seaweed?_

*8) She tries to talk me into playing dress-up: _I understand that we're still teenagers who've been "deprived of our youth," but playing pretend…really? REALLY?_

*9) She's always flirting with the castle guards: _Is she trying to make me banish and replace them with female guards?! _

10) The way Uncle always defends her: _You'd think that it was Katara who was his niece, and that I wasn't related to him at all!_

11) The way Aang defends her: _…I'm sorry. I just don't like it._

12) The way anybody defends her: _**I**__ should be the one defending her._

13) The way other men give her that "look": _Had I not changed for the better, they would all have surely met my wrath._

14) The way she can turn heads: _It prides and amazes me that she can do so, but that strange, almost envious feeling that affects my state of mind afterward is something I can live without._

15) The way she holds her chin up against me, even when she's wrong: _Never mind --- scratch that last one. Although it's annoying, I also find it rather endearing._

**16) The way she says she's fine: _I will never believe her again when she says that._

17) The way she says everything's okay when nothing's all right: _She should know that I am a shoulder she can cry on._

18) The way she always, ALWAYS puts everyone first: _She is not everyone's mother…so why should she have to take care of everyone else first before she can take care of herself?_

19) Her stubbornness: _Fine. If she refuses to heed my warnings of the previous statement…then I shall take it upon myself to take care of her._

20) The way she looks at me when I say touchy-feely stuff like that to her: _No. That feeling I get in my gut and my heart will always be wrong…no matter how much it may feel right._

21) Her witty tongue: _Honestly, does her brother put down women THAT much that she feels a need to take it out on me??? I don't degrade women one bit! Yet she --- urgh!!_

22) Her offense on my manhood: _She may be a Water Tribe Princess, but I am Fire Lord. Ha. _

23) She always plays the "pirate" card on me: _I did eventually save her from the pirates, didn't I? And she told me to jump in the river…the nerve..._

24) She always plays the "Ba Sing Se" card on me: _How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?! I realize that the moon and her cycle may play a hand in altering her mood, but goshdamn! Some of the things she says actually hurts!_

25) She has the most annoying antics AFTER we're done sparring: _She can't admit to losing, that sore loser!! I shouldn't get water-whipped AFTER battle with an explanation of "we're even now." _

26) She has the most annoying antics WHILE we're sparring: _I hate her infuriating octo-something style of water-bending. Because of that, I had to create that damn lotus flower-fire effect…and it wasn't exactly a pleasant thing to go through. _

27) She has the most annoying antics BEFORE we start sparring: _She'll find something to blame on, use against, blackmail, or threaten me…especially if I sorely, yet futilely, try to refuse._

28) Her "warm-up" before we spar: _…I don't believe those salutations were meant for stretching. _

29) Her salutations. Period: _The way her body moves in that hypnotic manner…I hate it!!_

30) The way men look at her while she's doing those damn salutations: _I will kill every one of them slowly in my head._

31) Her sultry voice: _I'll never admit to that._

32) Her damned puppy-face: _Okay…I'll admit to that one. I fall for it, alright! You would too, I'm sure of it._

33) Those loopies of hers: _Until this day, I still do not know why she's so defensive and fond of them. Although they do make her look rather cute, I prefer them to not be anywhere near her eyes…she has the most beautiful eyes._

34) Now that we're on that matter, her eyes: _Damn them and their hypnotizing effect. It's no fair._

35) Her bending movements: _I don't know what it is --- is it just me? --- It can't be just me. You have to notice how everything about that girl is HYPNOTIZING, right? I mean, c'mon…she does it on purpose!_

36) Her habit to just sneak up on me: _It's not that she's THAT skilled…I'm just...just…well, __busy__, you know? Taking care of other stuff, like the matters of my nation._

37) Her passion for trying to get through to my sister: _This one is a bit of a touchy subject. Why does she try so hard? Not that I'm ungrateful or anything…it's just…I worry for her. And for Azula. Never mind._

38) Her passion for a lot of things: _I'm envious. I am born of fire, yet that girl can hold so much determination and strength, it makes me feel inferior in comparison. I am awed and envious._

39) The way Sokka talks down to her: _I don't know what it is in the Water Tribes, but here, we respect and cherish our women. It stirs me at times when Sokka begins to degrade her…he's quite lucky her fists get to his face first before my anger can._

40) The way anybody talks down to her: _At least with Sokka, there's a playful tone in the air. But with others, especially those damn aristocrats [excluding myself and Uncle], they look at her heritage and look down at her as a peasant girl. If I could throw them in a dungeon, just to keep her safe from their scornful eyes, I would._

41) The way Aang talks to her: _At times, I wish I could be that open and playful with her._

42) The way Aang flirts with her: _I understand that he's her, her --- boyfriend --- but at times, I just wish that…never mind._

43) The way Aang can just hold her: _Is it because I can't hold Mai in the same loving manner as often as he can hold Katara? Or is it the idea, the thought of holding someone like her so close?_

44) The way Aang takes her for granted: _I understand he's busy with the rest of the world…hell, I should know; I'm busy with just my nation. But how can he just leave her at random times without a care? How can he take her for granted? If I were him…I wouldn't._

43) The way Aang just…just **fits** with her: _Aang is her boyfriend, my friend, my spirit brother...what am I thinking…?_

46) Ok, enough about Aang: _I'm going to give myself an ulcer soon. Besides…this is about the bane of my existence, not him._

47) She uses my weaknesses against me: _Who isn't a fan of chocolate and dessert?_

48) The way she provokes the most perverted images in my head: _Her caramel skin, her baby-blue eyes, her chocolate hair, her sea-candy smell…the lovely things she unknowingly uses against me while she's trying to steal some of the dessert from my plate. Who wouldn't start imagining those Agni-forbidden things?_

49) The way she provokes my anger: _I don't know what her problem is. All I do know is that she ENJOYS it._

50) The way she looks when I provoke her anger: _She is frustratingly beautiful when she's angry. It's maddening._

51) The way she provokes the most saddening emotions in the depths of my heart: _Seeing her cry just…breaks me._

52) The way she tries futilely not to bring up the issue of our mothers: _It's inevitable. Unfortunately, she has to act as the stronghold and the center, most of the time. It's difficult to be the one who's stable, I should know, and I am eternally grateful to her for it. I have the most impossible time trying to quell my emotions, but for her, if that's what it'll take, I will do it._

53) The way she provokes possessiveness in me: _I shouldn't feel this. I shouldn't think like that. But there's no stopping that feeling, is there?_

54) The apprehensive look on her face when I accidentally let that possessiveness show in my eyes: _I can almost feel her pulse speed up, which in turn, makes mine speed up._

55) The way her body tenses when my actions become a little too intense: _Is she…afraid of me? Agni, please don't let that be the case._

56) The way her eyes cloud over in a most endearing manner: _It stirs something in me…something I'm afraid has the capability to break my control._

57) The way she unconsciously licks her lips in anticipation: _I am going to break the chauvinistic, gentleman demeanor soon…and jump her._

58) The way her voice becomes the slightest bit more breathless: _Agni, it drives me the fuck insane._

59) The way she can never be mine: _The chemistry between us can be as strong as Agni can ever make it…but we can never be. The world looks down upon it too much, like Romeo and Juliet. And no matter how hard I wish and pray to any and every god there is out there, for some reason, my prayers fall on deaf ears. Forbidden love, I guess you can call it. Tragic._

60) The way I die inside without her: _An empty shell is all I have ever been since mom left, all I ever am with Mai, and all I ever will be ignoring what I feel for Katara._

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And that is why the title of this story must always stay the way it is. I have to loathe her, I have to hate her, I have to just be her friend…for her sake, and mine. Otherwise, I will put her through painful challenges and obstacles. I want to care for her, shelter her, protect her from everything that may cause her harm in any way; even if that means protecting her from myself. It breaks my heart that she smiles at me at this very moment, so warm and welcoming, not knowing what I am writing down on this scroll.

Sighing, I cradle my head on intertwined hands. She's here to visit me again, taking a break from her ambassadorial duties. I watch her arrange the books and scrolls of my library in the floor-to-ceiling shelves, her blue eyes shining in delight for a reason I do not know. Damn her. I guess Uncle was right: men are vulnerable and helpless against a pair of beautiful eyes. I wish that our relationship wasn't complicated. I wish running this country wasn't complicated. Hell, I wish life wasn't complicated.

"_Destiny is a funny thing, Zuko."_

I scoff to myself. Yes, Uncle is absolutely right. And if you agree with him, I guess you guys are correct as well. Still, we're water and fire...people say we don't mix. Watching her makes me happy and sad. Complicated and juxtapose, just like her --- just like us. But I...I guess the best things in life are worth fighting for, aren't they? I should know; it is the story of my life, especially during those months I spent trying desperately to choose which side was right. Standing up, I straighten my clothes and walk over to where she's softly humming to herself. I shouldn't tap her shoulder, I shouldn't smile at her like she's my world, I shouldn't take her hand. But _she's_ worth fighting for, don't you agree? And for once, I don't want to have to wish and wonder "what if?" I shaped my own destiny once, helping Aang defeat my father and restore balance in the world...now I want to know if I can try again. As I take her hand, her humming comes to a halt.

Her sudden smile is something I am not worthy of.

The things I hate about her. Destiny is a funny thing indeed. But you would all know that, right?

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*_Inspired by: _Swan Princess

_**Inspired from: _Midsummer Madness _by Burning Ice_


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